CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In what is being called one of the largest indictments ever handed down in the Western District of North Carolina, 83 alleged members of the United Blood Nation gang were charged with a slew of crimes Thursday.

The alleged crimes included racketeering and murder, as well as dealing drugs and guns. According to the 163-page indictment, the criminal activity started in or around September 2009 and continued through 2017.

Homeland Security officers and US Marshals ringed the courthouse in a show of force few had ever seen before Thursday morning. One by one, vans arrived to drop off and pick up the dozens of reputed gang members.

FBI agents and local police staged raids across the Charlotte area Thursday morning at dawn, arrested most of the suspects without serious incidents. Charges against the suspects included conspiring with other Blood gang members to commit robberies, deal drugs, as well as multiple gun charges.

All of the suspects arrested are being held without bond until individual bond hearings next week, officials said.